Technological developments affect our lives more and more every day. One of them is headphones. While they were accessories attached to music players in the past, they have come into our lives more with the developing mobile phone technologies. Of course, technology can harm people as much as they benefit. In recent years, many studies have been carried out on the harm of headphones to human health, and exposure to sounds at 85 dB intensity for more than 8 hours indicates that it is harmful to hearing health. Here, we will try to explain the damages of headphones to the auditory system.
We can list the effects of noise on human health as follows:
1.Makes people uncomfortable.
2.It prevents verbal communication.
3.Reduces work efficiency.
4.It causes sleep problems.
5.Causes damage to hearing and senses.
Noise has two kinds of effects on the hearing system:
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Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS): If a normal ear is exposed to harmful levels of noise for a long time, hearing sensitivity develops and this results in temporary hearing threshold decrease. But this will return to normal after a while. This phenomenon usually resolves within the first two hours of the noise exposure time. Many temporary threshold shifts resolve in approximately 16-18 hours within the first two days. Temporary threshold shift of more than 40 dB is diagnosed as pathological and is associated with permanent threshold shift.
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Permanent Threshold Shift (PTS): Permanent hearing loss can be defined as irreversible hearing loss that is clearly seen at 4 kHz. While hearing loss is at its highest level in the first 2-3 years, it progresses at a slower rate after 10-15 years. Hearing maintains the same level after exposure to noise is eliminated. It is a clinical picture that continues with tinnitus and dizziness. It can be seen in one ear. As a hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss can be seen alone or with conductive hearing loss. In such noise-induced cochlear hearing losses, tears in the eardrum, a rupture in the ossicular system, fistula formation in round and oval windows, and partial or complete damage to the Corti organ due to trauma in the middle and inner ear can be seen.
As we mentioned above, listening to music loudly and with headphones for a long time can have temporary and permanent effects on the auditory system.
Tinnitus and headache draw attention at the beginning of complaints arising from the use of digital musical instruments. Hearing loss and related problems can be observed in 10 percent of those who listen to music with headphones.
As shown in the studies conducted, listening to loud music with headphones for a long time can cause temporary and permanent damage to hearing health. Early symptoms such as buzzing and ringing may be ignored by the person. However, hearing loss may be noticeable when the person's communication with the environment is impaired, and in this case, it may be too late. Our advice to young people who like to listen to music with headphones is to consult a specialist immediately when the first complaints start to occur on their hearing systems (buzzing in the ears, pain, hearing loss, ringing, etc.).
